TBT on a Saturday

MANILA, Philippines - TBT on a Saturday. That’s exactly what happened at the Solaire Grand Ballroom as Ogie Alcasid once more brought the house down in his TBT — Total Balik Tugtugan concert last Nov 29.

A repeat of his successful TBT birthday concert held last August at the Music Museum, proved that TBT is not just for reminiscing memories through photos but music as well.

Unlike most of his past concerts where the repertoire consisted mostly of his originals, Ogie stuck to the throwback theme with carefully-selected songs that he grew up with. And with the show’s musical director Ryan Cayabyab assisting in the selection process, this was sure to be a muscial trip worth the ride.

Ogie set the mood of the musical flashback by opening with Growing Up, the iconic theme song from the blockbuster movie Bagets. Incidentally, the movie was released the same year that he began his musical journey as part of La Salle Greenhills’ Kundirana.

His taste and influences were also evident in the other song choices — Michael McDonald’s What A Fool Believes; Kenny Loggins’ Heart To Heart; Boz Scagg’s Heart Of Mine (a duet he did with his good friend and fellow Kundirana alumnus Dingdong Avanzado); and a medley of Kenny Rankin tunes (Hiding Inside Myself, On and On, What Matters Most and Haven’t We Met).

Ogie’s only original song that found its way in the concert was a duet with his former love team (a very “short”-lived love team, pun intended) Manilyn Reynes. They did a very soulful rendition of his heartbreaking composition, Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang. Although she is more popular nowadays as a comedienne, hearing her voice reminds everyone that the lady has the singing chops.

One of the evening’s highlights was the performance of the country’s premier vocal group, The CompanY. The members once more showed their a capella prowess by performing one of the anthems of the Manila Sound, Hotdog’s Manila, together with Ogie. The crowd couldn’t get enough of the group, so it obliged with another song, an a capella version of the OPM hit Kumusta Mga Kaibigan by the ’70s rock band, Maria Cafra. 

As expected, the crowd went wild when Ogie introduced his wife, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid. She did the ballad version of Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach. Her impeccable rendition made the audience member realize the song’s true meaning of pain, and the plea for acceptance and understanding. The couple then did a duet version of the Baron Barbers classic, I Will Always Stay This Way In Love With You.

Aside from Ogie and his guests, an audience member also took the spotlight, using the concert as a venue to propose to his girlfriend, Regina. So touched was Ogie by the overflowing of love, he offered to sing at their wedding.

The latter part of the show saw the audience up on their feet, dancing to memorable tunes of ’80s. Two of Ogie’s friends joined in the dance marathon — Jojo Alejar (with the Tigers) who danced to Michael Jackson’s PYT and the Rick Astley of the Philippines, Roderick Paulate in, you guessed it, a Rick Astley Medley.

Ogie was in his element, as he has always been in his past concerts. His voice was in tip-top form, and his wit and humor was on the dot. He is the epitome of a total entertainer. He speaks and sings from the heart, and the audience can feel the sincerity and his passion for music.  Definitely, this is what has kept him continuously in the industry for the past three decades. Ogie is in a class of his own, a true gem of the industry.